1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cervical vertebrae orthosis, and more particularly to a cervical vertebrae orthosis which is attached to a human body so as to limit a motion of a troubled part in a portion between an upper portion of a thoracic vertebrae and cervical vertebrae, a skull bone and the like.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
In conventional, as this kind of cervical vertebrae orthosis, there has been known a cervical vertebrae orthosis previously disclosed by the inventor of the present application (Japanese Patent No. 2923559), and this will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8.
That is, in the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a plastic thoracic cage body structured such as to be freely attached to a chest region of the human body, reference numerals 2 and 3 denote a front thoracic cage member and a rear thoracic cage member which constitute the thoracic cage body 1 and are formed in a substantially Y shape, reference numerals 4 and 5 denote a pair of attaching bands for shoulder and attaching bands for waist which are disposed in both sides and respectively fasten upper and lower portions of the front and rear thoracic cage members 2 and 3, reference numeral 6 denotes a lower jaw holding body which is mounted in a standing manner to the front thoracic cage member 2 via a pair of connection arms 7 in both sides, and reference numeral 8 denotes an occipital region holding body mounted in a standing manner to the rear thoracic cage member 3 via a pair of connection arms 9 in both sides. Reference numerals 10 and 11 denote an upper connection arm member and a lower connection arm member which respectively constitute the front connection arms 7 in both sides, have desired lengths and are formed in a substantially link piece shape, reference numeral 12 denotes a substantially plate-like joint member which movably connects free ends of the upper and lower connection arm members 10 and 11 by pivot pins 13, and reference numeral 14 denotes a desired number of angle adjusting holes which are formed on an outer peripheral edge of the joint member 12 around the respective pivot pins 13 at respective predetermined pitches on the same circumference. The structure is made such that not only a height of the lower jaw holding body 6 but also an angle of anteflexion and retroflexion can be freely adjusted by fixing free end sides of the upper and lower connection arm members 10 and 11 to the desired angle adjusting holes 14 via fastening screws 15.
Reference numerals 16 and 17 denotes an upper portion connection arm member and a lower portion connection arm member which respectively constitute the rear connection arms 9 in both sides, have desired lengths and are formed in a substantially link piece shape, and reference numeral 18 denotes a substantially plate-like joint member which movably connects free ends of the upper and lower portion connection arm members 16 and 17 by the pivot pins 13. Angle adjusting holes 19 are formed in an outer peripheral edge of the joint member 18 in the same manner as those of the joint member 12, and the structure is made such that it is possible to freely adjust angles for anteflexion and retroflexion in addition to the height of the occipital region holding body 8 by suitably fixing the free end sides of the upper and lower portion connection arm members 16 and 17 to the desired angle adjusting holes 19 via the fastening screws 15. Reference numeral 20 denotes a pair of attaching bands in both sides which fasten the lower jaw holding body 6 to the occipital region holding body 8, and reference numeral 21 denotes a desired-shaped pad member mounted to inner surfaces of the thoracic vertebrae body 1 and the lower jaw and occipital region holding bodies 6 and 8.
According to the conventional art structured in the manner mentioned above, the front portion thoracic cage member 2 and the rear portion thoracic cage member 3 are placed on the chest region of the human body in an outward fitting manner and then fastened to the chest region by the attaching bands 4 and 5. Thereafter, by suitably fixing the respective upper and lower portion connection arm members 10, 11, 16 and 17 constituting the respective connection arms 7 and 9 in the front and rear portions to the angle adjusting holes 14 and 19 of the respective joint members 12 and 18 via the fastening screws 15 while moving the respective upper and lower portion connection arm members 10, 11, 16 and 17 in a predetermined direction, the lower jaw holding body 6 and the occipital region holding body 8 are suitably adjusted not only in the respective desired heights but also in the angles with respect to the anteflexion and the retroflexion. Next, the attaching band 20 is fastened while the lower jaw holding body 6 and the occipital region holding body 8 are placed on the lower jaw and the occipital region respectively. Further, a lower jawbone region and an occipital tubercle region are supported by a pair of front portion connection arms 7 and rear portion connection arms 9 in both sides via the lower jaw holding body 6 and the occipital region holding body 8, whereby the angle limitation in the anteflexion, retroflexion, rotation and lateral fold of the cervical vertebrae, and a load applied to the cervical vertebrae due to a weight of the head region are preferably reduced.
In this case, according to the conventional art structured in the manner mentioned above, since the respective upper and lower portion connection arm members 10, 11, 16 and 17 constituting the respective connection arms 7 and 9 in the front and rear portions are suitably fixed to the angle adjusting holes 14 and 19 of the joint members 12 and 18 via the fastening screws 15 so as to adjust the lower jaw holding body 6 and the occipital region holding body 8 not only in the respective desired heights but also in the angles in the anteflexion and retroflexion directions, the angle adjusting operation is very troublesome and needs a lot of work, and further, not only it is impossible to suitably execute a fine adjustment but also it is hard to stably support the lower jaw holding body 6 and the occipital region holding body 8.
An object of the present invention is to provide a cervical vertebrae orthosis which can solve the problems in the conventional art mentioned above, can always easily, rapidly and securely adjust an angle, and can always stably support a lower jaw holding body and an occipital region holding body.
That is, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a cervical vertebrae orthosis comprising:
a thoracic cage body 1 being freely attachable to a chest region of a human body in an outward fitting manner; and
a lower jaw holding body 6 and an occipital region holding body 8 respectively mounted to front and rear of an upper portion in the thoracic cage body 1 via a pair of connection arms 51 and 52 with angle adjusting means 53 in both sides,
wherein the angle adjusting means 53 is structured by coaxially pivoting a clutch member 54 with a radial pawl 56 fixed and attached to each of the thoracic cage body 1, the lower jaw holding body 6 and the occipital region holding body 8, a clutch portion 60 with the same shaped pawl 62 formed in the connection arms 51 and 52 so as to be engaged with the clutch member 54, a stopper ring 63 with an operation pawl 66 attached to the connection arms 51 and 52 so as to engage the clutch member 54 with the clutch portion 60 and fix them, and a holding member 76 with an operation pawl 80 provided so as to engage with and press to operate the operation pawl 66 of the stopper ring 63.
Then, in the cervical vertebrae orthosis in accordance with the present invention, the stopper ring 63 is rotated in a predetermined direction so as to cancel the engagement between the operation pawl 66 and the operation pawl 80 of the holding member 76 and cancel the engagement between the clutch member 54 and the clutch portion 60, the respective connection arms 51 and 52 are moved and adjusted to beat proper angles, then the clutch portion 60 is engaged with the clutch member 54, thereafter the stopper ring 63 is rotated in the predetermined direction so that the clutch portion 60 is pressed to the clutch member 54 to be fixed in an engagement state while the operation pawl 66 is engaged with the operation pawl 80 of the holding member 76, and thus the lower jaw holding body 6 and the occipital region holding body 8 can be properly adjusted not only in the suitable heights but also in the anteflexion and retroflexion directions.